Ernest takes reins of DN girls hoops

‘We’re looking at going after a (Big 5) league title next year’

Mike Ernest, who was hired in April as head coach of the Del Norte High School girls’ basketball team, will become the dean of students at Castle Rock Charter School for the 2012–13 academic year. Ernest was previously the head girls basketball coach at McKay High School in Salem, Ore. Del Norte Triplicate/Bryant Anderson

Mike Ernest is bringing the Del Norte girls basketball program back to basics.

Not fundamentals — dribbling, passing and shooting will come later. Ernest, who was hired in April as the Warriors’ newest coach, is instilling the building blocks of individual and collective responsibility within his players in off-season meetings and workouts.

“The number one belief we went over is coachability,” Ernest said. “Number two is selflessness. Number three is discipline.”

Del Norte won 20 percent of its games over the past two seasons (8-32 overall) and has won five Big 5 Conference games in the past seven seasons.

Ernest has set expectations for the 2012–13 season beyond simply competing.

“We’re looking at going after a league title next year,” he said.

“Substituting at the high school (earlier this academic year), I was
able to talk to the girls. One thing I got out of it: They’re sick and
tired of losing. They’re upset about losing. I’ve asked my players,
‘What are you willing to do to change that?’ I’m not the type of coach
that accepts losing.”

Ernest, 42, was a three-sport athlete at Choctaw High School in
Choctaw, Okla., and played basketball briefly for Rose State College in
Midwest City, Okla. He received bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the
University of Central Oklahoma and an administrative license from the
University of Oregon.

Before his hiring at Del Norte, Ernest spent three years as the
girls’ basketball coach at McKay High School in Salem, Ore., leaving the
school after the 2010-11 season. His previous stops include South
Umpqua High School in Myrtle Creek, Ore., and Brookings-Harbor High
School.

Ernest, who is divorced with three children, has spent much of the
2011–12 academic year as a substitute physical education instructor at
Crescent Elk Middle School. He has accepted a job as dean of students at
Castle Rock Charter School, which he will begin at the conclusion of
the school year.

He had gotten to know the late Eric Epperson, the Crescent Elk P.E.
teacher who passed away on April 5 at the age of 44. In Ernest’s last
conversation with Epperson, the two had talked about fishing and
possibly going on a fishing trip together. “Let me know and I’ll take
you out,” Ernest recalled Epperson saying.

“He grew up here. He had a lot of connections to the
community,” Ernest said. “He definitely was well-respected. We connected
really well together.”

Ernest also substituted at Del Norte, where athletic director Randy
Fugate was looking for a replacement for Buzz McCulloch as the Warriors’
coach.

“He had done an excellent job for us (substituting),” Fugate said. “He had excellent presence in a room.”

Ernest continued to impress Fugate in an interview for the position.

“He was very dynamic, very prepared,” Fugate said. “He dressed
professionally. He came in with a written philosophy and written
practice plans.

“Anytime you have a head coaching change, you have mixed feelings. I think he’s going to be great.”

Andrew Fitch, currently a history teacher at Del Norte High, has been
hired to coach the Warriors’ junior varsity team. Kristi Gavin will
coach the Del Norte freshmen.

Ernest has had a group of 15 girls come in for offseason workouts,
with a few others expressing interest in playing. He intends to imbue
within the Warriors an aggressive mentality.

“It doesn’t matter what our record is — when our opponent steps on
the court, we want to let them know they’re playing Del Norte,” he said.

Reach Robert Husseman at
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